Thou art wise, and wisdom, which is the fountain of life, emanates from Thee; compared with Thy wisdom, every man is brutish and without knowledge. Thou art wise, prior to all first beings, and even wisdom was Thy nursling. Thou art wise, but Thou didst not learn from another, nor didst Thou acquire wisdom from any one beside Thee. Thou art wise, and from Thy wisdom didst Thou set apart the predestined will, as a workman and an artist, to draw forth the emanation of existence from non-existence (as the light, issuing from the eye, emanates and draws from the fountain of light without a bucket), and it made all things without instruments. It hewed and engraved, cleansed and purified; it called unto non-existence, and it was cleft in twain; unto existence, and it was established; unto the universe, and it was stretched out. It meted out heaven with the span; its hand joined the pavilion of the spheres, and fastened the curtains over the creatures with the loops of potentiality. Its power reaches as far as the edge of the curtain, the outermost creation, which is the extreme end of the coupling. XV. BAHYA B. JOSEPH IBN PAKUDA [Philosopher, talmudic scholar, and liturgic poet. Difference of opinion exists as to the time when he flourished. It is usually accepted that he lived in the eleventh century. But arguments, though by no means conclusive, have been brought forth to prove that he lived a century later. To him is due the credit of having been the author of the first Jewish system of ethics. His ethical work _Hobot ha-Lebabot_ (Duties of the Heart), which was written in Arabic, has always been a great favorite in its Hebrew translation.] Pious Reflections and Admonitions to the Soul[95] Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. O my soul, march on with strength, and bless thy Creator. Prepare a supplication for Him, and pour out thy meditation before Him. Awake from thy sleep, and consider thy place, whence thou camest, and whither thou goest. O my soul, awake from thy slumber, and utter a song to thy Creator; sing praises unto His name, declare His wonders, and fear Him wherever thou dwellest. O my soul, be not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; nor shouldst thou be as a drunkard that is fast asleep, or as a man that is stupefied; for out of the fountain of understanding wast thou formed, and from the spring of wisdom wast thou taken; from a holy place wast thou brought forth, and from the city of the mighty, from heaven, wast thou taken out by God.